


(You're) The Best of Us

by GlassesOfJustice



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: F/M, Grief/Mourning, Missing Scene, Misunderstandings, Older Woman/Younger Man
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:41:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27073651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlassesOfJustice/pseuds/GlassesOfJustice
Summary: Katrina visits Chris after a long, hard day.
Relationships: Katrina Cornwell/Christopher Pike
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21
Collections: Little Black Dress Flash 2020





	(You're) The Best of Us

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Miri Cleo (miri_cleo)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/miri_cleo/gifts).



The _whoosh_ of the door opening blew the grey hairs at the edge of Chris' hairline back. Katrina smiled weakly at him. It had been an excruciating day. First she had steered them into a minefield, which was a lot more hazardous than she realized, and then one of Chris’ Lieutenant Commanders had sacrificed herself for the future of sentient life. 

“Admiral, please, come in.” Chris moved out of the doorway, gesturing for her to sit.

“You remodeled.”

Chris blushed. “I know Gabriel was your friend. I just—"

“I like it,” Katrina squeezed his arm before continuing, “and Gabriel _was_ my friend...but he’d changed. You were away for a long time, Chris.”

They sit opposite and Kat leans forward, arms on her knees.

“I hope you didn’t throw out all of Lorca’s earth whiskey, he always had the best stash. Even before…”

“Before what?”

“No, let's leave it. I didn’t come here to talk about Lorca.”

“Okay…”

Kat locked eyes with him, softening under his gaze. “The whiskey?”

“You always could drink me under the table.”

They both laughed at that. When Chris returned with their heavy glasses, he sat next to her, his leg pressing into hers, reminding her of what seemed like a lifetime ago now.

“I’m truly sorry about Lieutenant Commander Airiam.”

They both drank to that.

“I haven’t been the Captain of Discovery for long, but losing a fellow officer never gets easier, no matter the circumstances.”

“I hear you’ve been making some reckless choices in that regard, Chris.”

She tilted her head to look at him; he stared into his drink avoiding her. Instead of answering her, he stood up and began to pace the small space around their seating area. 

“All this time. I’ve been home for months! A new ship, dangerous missions, everyone reminding me what I missed, and you don’t bother to tell me why you picked me? Why I got sidelined.”

His anger catches her off guard.

“Christopher, did you really not know?”

He sat down again and they shifted to look at each other, to appraise one another. She watched his chest rise and fall, settling back into a slower rhythm.

He looked at her like a lost kid, more reminiscent of his fictional namesake, Christopher Robin, than the Captain of Starfleet's prize science vessel.

“Honestly, I thought you hated me.”

“Oh, Chris.” Katrina can't remember the last time her voice was filled with such regret.

She opened her arms to him and he clung to her chest. She stroked the back of his head, hands running through his short salt and pepper hair. 

“I’m sorry, Chris. I couldn’t lose you. We couldn’t. I’m sorry.” Katrina stopped. Any words she had to offer wouldn’t be enough. Wouldn't make up for what they’d lost, what she’d selfishly kept from him. 

She could hold him, and that she would do, for as long as he’d let her.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to frnkly for the beta read!


End file.
